Tea with a Fine Boy
by Chloris
Summary: The day Elizabeth Swann arranges a tea party for her two favourite people is the same day her father delivers some unwelcome news.


Governor Weatherby Swann sat back in his chair with a sigh and read over the letter he had just finished one last time. He could not say that he was entirely pleased with it, but there was really no helping that.

He was just sealing the envelope when he heard a knock at the door of his study.

"Come in," he called.

His manservant Thomas entered. "Sir, Miss Elizabeth Swann and her dear friend Master William Turner are pleased to cordially extend to Governor Weatherby Swann an invitation to Tea this Thursday, at 3 o'clock sharp in the parlour of the Governor's Mansion, Port Royal, Jamaica, the Caribbean Islands, the British Empire."

Through this whole speech the man managed to keep an expression of dignified seriousness on his face which did not falter, even while he rhymed off the interminable address.

Governor Swann chuckled. "I am amazed at your ability to keep a straight face Thomas."

The man's expression brightened as he smiled and bowed. "Thank you, sir."

"You are welcome, Thomas," said the Governor. Glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner, which read ten minutes past three, he chuckled again. "Please go and tell Miss Swann and Master Turner that I heartily accept their invitation and regret to tell them that, due to matters of business, I will be delayed a quarter of an hour."

Thomas bowed and left. Governor Swann took one more look at the letter in his hands. He knew its contents would not please his daughter, but that could not be helped; children must grow up sometime.

* * *

Miss Elizabeth Swann stood in the middle of the parlour in the governor's mansion, directing a maid who was placing a tray of tea and cakes in the middle of a small table.

"It must be perfect, Nelly! This is my first tea party, so everything must be perfect."

Nelly smiled. The little girl was precocious to say the least, but she was the darling of the house. The previous governor had been an old miser with no family at all, so Miss Swann and her young friend were a welcome change.

The "young friend" was standing behind the perfectly arranged chairs looking awkward and unsure. Will Turner was not used to parties of any kind and being bullied into his Sunday best by Elizabeth was not making him fond of them.

"Elizabeth, are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked up from her tea set. "Of course it's a good idea, Mr. Turner. But you must call me 'Miss Swann', remember. And you don't have to say anything to Papa; I'll do all the talking."

Elizabeth saw that this was not making Will any more at ease, so she decided to try another tactic. "Ruth Willis says that her mama has been giving her tea parties since last year. We are both older than boring old Ruth, but neither of us has ever had a proper party. Besides," she gave him a look that said her imagination was starting to work, "I'm sure that if we're ever captured by pirates they would never believe that we were worth kidnapping if we couldn't drink tea properly."

Will rolled his eyes, but Elizabeth could see that she'd caught his attention at least a little bit with her pirates. She was always talking about pirates and no matter how much Will said he hated them, she always got him into her games as the dashing second-in-command of the infamous Captain Swann. That or the noble Royal Navy Lieutenant who saved the kidnapped Miss Swann from walking the plank.

Thomas stepped into the room and, drawing himself up to his full height and standing especially straight when he saw Nelly, said, "The Governor heartily accepts your gracious invitation to Tea. He regrets that his business will delay him about a quarter of an hour, Miss."

Elizabeth looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. When she saw the time, her face lit up. "Alright, thank you Thomas. Now, can you go and wait for Papa and announce him when he comes in?"

As Thomas left, she turned on Will and said anxiously, "Mr. Turner, you need to stand with me over by the door to welcome our guest. Once he comes, do you remember what to do?"

"Yes, Eliz- I mean, Miss Swann. I offer you my arm and walk you to your chair, hold your chair out for you and push it in and then take a seat myself. I ask for two lumps of sugar when you pour the tea and ask Governor Swann how business has been. I hold my tea cup daintily, not like a hammer, and take one cake at a time."

Will looked at Elizabeth to see if he'd gotten this all right and was rewarded by the sight of her smiling brilliantly at him.

"You're going to look like a real gentleman, Mr. Turner."

Will couldn't help but smile. His mother always used to say, "One day, Will, one day you'll be a great gentleman, and won't you thank your ma for all those manners she made you learn?" It seemed to be coming true.

Outside the doors came the sound of Thomas' exaggerated voice saying, "Welcome Governor Swann! Just give me a moment and you shall be announced properly!"

"Hurry!" cried Elizabeth. She hauled Will over to the door and smiled as widely as she could.

When the Governor finally entered the room, he was confronted by his ten-and-a-half year old daughter dressed in the only party dress she ever wore, smiling widely, with her hand resting gently on the arm of the boy they had pulled out of the sea, dressed in a clean suit and looking nervous. The Governor smiled.

Elizabeth was the first to react. "Welcome Governor," she said, performing an acceptable imitation of a curtsey.

To the Governor's surprise, young Will Turner managed an equally acceptable bow and said, "Yes, welcome Governor Swann. Please join Miss Swann and I at the table," without too much stammering.

As the two children walked to the table arranged by the window, the Governor couldn't help regretting what he'd written in that letter. The boy really was behaving like a gentleman, escorting Elizabeth to her seat and holding out her chair for her.

When everyone was finally seated, Elizabeth began to pour the tea. Once this was done, Will turned to the Governor and asked gravely, "How is business, Sir?"

A chuckle escaped the Governor's lips as he answered, "Quite well, thank you, my boy." Elizabeth scowled at him and he hurried to correct himself, "I mean, Mr. Turner."

Will nodded, "I'm glad to hear it." Then he shot a glance at Elizabeth, who began to chatter away about the dinners she had been to and the gossip. Governor Swann guessed that she was inventing the gossip, as it most of it involved people named Lady Kittie and Sir Hound, or the doings of the notorious pirate Orangebeard.

* * *

The tea party was, on the whole, quite enjoyable. The food was good and Governor Swann was impressed at how much Elizabeth knew, both about tea parties and about the doings of her imaginary acquaintance. Really, only two things kept him from appreciating it fully.

The first was Elizabeth's persisting interest in pirates. No matter how hard he tried to distract her or scold her, her stories always came back to pirates. She was too old for such stories, he thought.

The second thing was the contents of the letter. He had to tell the children sometime, and he supposed that telling them while they were so clearly pretending to be grown up was as good a time as any.

As Nelly cleared the tea away and Elizabeth paused in her narration of the sacking of some unnamed port, the Governor spoke.

"Well, Miss Swann, Mr. Turner, I have enjoyed myself immensely this afternoon, but now I find I have a bit of business to attend to with you both."

The children listened to him, curious.

"Well, as you both know, Master Turner has been staying here since his arrival in Port Royal. But it has come to my attention that when you are grown, Master Turner, you will not have any means of supporting yourself."

Elizabeth broke in. "But he can stay with us, can't he Papa? I'll share my allowance with him."

Governor Swann smiled sadly. This was the part which he had been dreading. "Elizabeth, your money cannot support two people. Besides, once you are grown, you will get married. Then your husband will look after you. But Master Turner may have to look after himself. So I have arranged for you, William, to begin an apprenticeship with Mr. John Brown, a master blacksmith in Port Royal. You will be leaving us inside of a week."

Elizabeth began to protest, and was almost in tears before Will spoke up. "Don't cry Elizabeth. It's okay. I knew I couldn't stay forever." Turning to the Governor, he paused. Governor Swann could see that the boy was hurt, but he was holding up better than the Governor had expected. Will stood up and bowed to him. "Thank you, Sir, for letting me stay in your house for so long, and for finding me a place to stay. I take my leave of you now. I'll be in my room."

As the boy walked out of the room, head up, shoulders only just beginning to droop, the Governor watched him go. "One day," he murmured, reaching out a hand to pat Elizabeth's back as she began to sob, "one day that boy will be a fine gentleman."

* * *

**A/N** Thanks for reading this everyone! I've edited this a bit since it was posted (I'm still learning the ropes of ), but nothing major has changed. I've been considering writing a piece about Will's time with Mr. Brown the blacksmith; what do you think?


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